The Boys from Parkhurst Prison, Isle of Wight
With grateful Thanks to Janet Martin
Quakers in England had arranged for the segregation
of young offenders,
who were sent to Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight,
to be taught useful
trades.
It was decided to give some of the boys a break.
They would be pardoned
if they agreed to go to
The lads were not hardened offenders. They were
not even the Victorian equivalent of Borstal
Boys. In those days, there was no provision in law for placing a child on probation.
Boys could
be jailed for misdemeanors such as nicking apples
from stalls or fish from rivers. One hundred
and twenty eight Parkhurst Boys were selected to be
shipped to
ages and trades have survived in Government Archives now held in
The same few trades are mentioned again and again.
This does not mean that tailors (for
instance) were particularly prone to breaking the law: the trades were taught
in prison.
These
children arrived in
and the Mandarin in 1843.
The transportation of the Parkhurst
Boys is a dark chapter in the story of
unpublicised except in the newspapers of the day. Most of the youngsters adapted
well.
Soon, it was impossible to tell them apart from the migrants who had come out
of their
own free will. Many of the Parkhurst Boy’s descendants
became distinguished citizens
of
Here are their names, ages and trades:
St George; Arrived
ASTLE William, 12 tailor
AXFORD John, 18 tailor
AXFORD William, 16 shoemaker
BAKER George, 16 shoemaker
BALDWIN William, 14 tailor
BEASLEY William, 14 tailor
BELLAMY David, 15 tailor
BIGGS Arthur, 16
BLACKWELL William G., 14 tailor
BOTTOMLEY George, 15
BRIGGS James, 17 tailor
BROWN George, 16 shoemaker
BRYANT James, 15 shoemaker
BURFORD William, 18 tailor
BURGESS James, 12 tailor
BURKE Michael, 12 tailor
BURNARD Isaac, 15 tailor
BURNARD Thomas, 17 shoemaker
CARTER Edward, 14 tailor
COLEY James, 15 tailor
COLEY Joseph, 17
CHAPMAN Charles, 15
COOK Samuel, 18
COPPING John, 16 tailor
COTEY Joseph, 17
CRAWFORD William, 15
CRITCHLEY Thomas, 17 tailor
DAWES Frederick, 16
DILLION Thomas, 14
DOBBY Michael, 15 tailor
DOWIE Henery Buller 19
EDGE George, 19 shoemaker
ELDER Alexander, 18
FAWIAN Thomas, 16
FLOYD John, 18
FOX Robert Waylett, 15
GARN William, 18
HARDY Thomas, 17
HARVEY Thomas, 18
HITCHCOCK Benjamin, 17
HOLLIS William, 16 tailor
HOLLOWAY Charles, 17 shoemaker
HOPKINS Gabriel, 13 shoemaker
HORNE Frederick, 15 tailor
JONES John, 17
KING George, 18
KING Thomas, 15 shoemaker
LEE John, 14 tailor
LIDDLE Adam, 17
LLOYD John, 15 tailor
MAHONEY John, 14
MACKAY William, 14 tailor
MALCOLM John, 19
MARSH David, 15
MARSH James, 16 shoemaker
MATTHEWS William, 17 tailor
MELLOM Walter, 18
MILLER John, 15 shoemaker
MINHINNICK John, 15 shoemaker
MOODY John, 14 tailor
MURGUARD Charles, 16
MYLER Richard, 14 tailor
McGUINESS James, 17 shoemaker
McQUARRIE Andrew, 17
NICHOLSON John, 18
NICHOLSON William, 18
OGAN John, 14 tailor
PARSONS James, 16
PHILLIPS Joseph, 14
PINEY James, 14
POOL James, 15
POTTER James, 17
PROCTOR Thomas, 15 tailor
RAMPLING James, 15 tailor
RICHMOND Peter, 14 tailor
ROOK Thomas, 19
RYAN John, 18
SAUNDERS John, 14 shoemaker
SAYLES James, 18
SEAMELL Henry, 20
SHEARS John, 17 shoemaker
SHERIFF Charles, 17 tailor
SHERIFF Charles, 17 shoemaker
SMITH William, 18
STOKES James, 18
STRONG Henry Stephen, 18
THORN William, 18
TUFT John, 17 shoemaker
TOPPENY William, 13
TOPPING William, 13 tailor
TUCK William, 11 tailor
TUGGET John, 17
WARNUTT William, 16 tailor
WHITEHEAD John, 18
WILLEY John, 15 tailor
WINES Henry, 15 tailor
WOODGATE William, 16
The St George also carried passengers who paid
their own way. She disembarked 13 cabin
and 21 steerage passengers for
Mandarin. Arrived
The Mandarin also carried passengers who paid their
own way, arriving 1843. Most of the
fare-paying passengers went to
The boys from Parkhurst
Prison,
ADAMS Thomas, 17 carpenter
ALLEN George, 16 tailor and cooper
BASSAN Henry, 16 bricklayer an tailor
BEALES Wiliam, 18 carpenter
BINNIE Alexander, 19 tailor
COTTERELL John, 17 tailor
DAY Thomas, 18 tailor
DENMAN William, 15 tailor
EGGERTON Isaac, 17 cooper and shoemaker
FARRELL John, 16 cooper and shoemaker
GOULBURN Thomas, 18 carpenter
GRIFFITHS James, 17 carpenter and shoemaker
HERMITAGE John, 16 carpenter
HILL Robert, 17 sayer and shoemaker
HUNTLY Walter, 16 bricklayer
INCHIE James, 19 cooper
LAMB Michael, 16 bricklayer and shoemaker
LAY George, 20 carpenter
LYNCH John, 17 carpenter
NEIL Charles, 16 shoemaker
ORGAN Richard, 16 plumber and glazier
PARKER William, 12 tailor
PATON William, 19 bricklayer
ROSE Edwin, 17 farmer
SHAW John, 17 sayer and shoemaker
SMITH Joseph, 18 plasterer and bricklayer
SMITH William, 16 farmer
WALLER Alfred, 15 carpenter
WEST William, 16 bricklayer and tailor
WILLIAMS Joseph, 17 cooper
WILSON George, 16 shoemaker
When the Parkhurst Boys
landed in
master and migration officer, David Rough. He did not think much of their prison-taught
trades, for he immediately tendered them as farm labourers in the Government
Gazette.
Some stayed in
were offering. From the beginning, they were regarded by their contemporaries
as black
sheep, or worse.